A young soldier looked rather sheepish as he searched my bag before I entered the barricaded area beside the Capitolio Nacional and Palacio de Nariño along Carrera 7 in Bogotá. Maybe it was because I was the only tourist in the area when I stumbled upon some sort of demonstration at the Presidential Palace. I assume I was the only tourist because I saw no others.
But, there was certainly a lot of noise, pomp, and circumstance surrounding this event and it attracted me and my camera.
I’m not sure why there was a demonstration and/or parade… perhaps this happens every Sunday in the city. People of importance in uniforms watched from high up. They were guarded by young men with large automatic rifles.
Still, even with the intensity and amount of security in one city block, children ran around freely in band uniforms and families lined the fence in hopes of getting a glimpse of the display in the Palace courtyard. Once inside the barricaded area, it felt more like a giant public picnic than a secured area.
I wandered a bit and took some photos. And, when it was time for the parade of people to march along Carrera 7 I took a video. When the parade was done, the people and barriers all quickly disappeared and everything went back to being a typical Sunday afternoon.
